You are limited to 40 spots. Thats it. Not like they chose to let him go. We had hard 40 man decisions this year, and we don't have nearly the talent we did back then.
Rule 5 draft eligibility was different back then as well. Now HS and young international signees have 5 years in the system before they have to be protected or exposed to the Rule 5 draft. Back then it was 4 years for players who signed at 18 or younger.
That would suck. Imagine Ovando being eligible next season. That would be nearly impossible to protect.
This. I don't understand why they continued to get bashed for this. He wasn't much of a prospect and they couldn't protect everyone. You made me sad thinking of the "what could have been". I think multiple World Series appearances at the least.
One of Hunsicker's biggest, if not the biggest mistake: keeping Derek Bell over Hidalgo and Abreu....